Melifluonze
New member
Hi everyone!
Back in '92, I set up a 120 long at the top of the stairway in my ranch home (replacing the ugly iron railing they had installed there). I had that running for three years before we moved, fish only, but no casualties. Everything except the tank was DIY, including the power inverter for 18 hours of tank operation, including lighting. I had auto water changes working with 55 gallon Rubbermaid cans in the basement and used surplus chemical pumps (NOS) to run the sump and water change system. I used standard fluorescent lights back then.
I'm back. I've got a 90 gallon tank that used to be fresh water (for about 9 years) and empty for about four. I've got it up and running for a week now, without a sump, just 2 Magnum 350 canisters, 3 power heads and 2 200W heaters, with a SolarXtreme 48" light (which I really like!).
I used 40 lbs of live sand and 40 lbs of aragonite for the substrate, and I purchased about 70 pounds of live rock from another member. I'm watching the water, and it all looks good so far.
I'm looking at going to a 180 gallon at this point, dividing the kitchen from the sunroom, and I'm starting construction of the stand this week. I will have most of the goodies in the basement.
Couple of questions:
1. If the first thing you put into the tank is live rock and you have excellent calcium, carbonate, and no phosphor and no nitrate, what kind of a cycle can you expect? What should I be looking for as the 90 cycles, and is there a chance of keeping the corals that are on the live rock alive (a few shrooms and some other things).
2. Sunlight. The sunroom is really the only place I can do this. While I can put shades everywhere... how bad is it to have sunlight hitting the tank during the day for 2-3 hours if the temperature is held constant and the water quality is maintained?
I'm sure I'll have more. Thanks for being around, folks!
Back in '92, I set up a 120 long at the top of the stairway in my ranch home (replacing the ugly iron railing they had installed there). I had that running for three years before we moved, fish only, but no casualties. Everything except the tank was DIY, including the power inverter for 18 hours of tank operation, including lighting. I had auto water changes working with 55 gallon Rubbermaid cans in the basement and used surplus chemical pumps (NOS) to run the sump and water change system. I used standard fluorescent lights back then.
I'm back. I've got a 90 gallon tank that used to be fresh water (for about 9 years) and empty for about four. I've got it up and running for a week now, without a sump, just 2 Magnum 350 canisters, 3 power heads and 2 200W heaters, with a SolarXtreme 48" light (which I really like!).
I used 40 lbs of live sand and 40 lbs of aragonite for the substrate, and I purchased about 70 pounds of live rock from another member. I'm watching the water, and it all looks good so far.
I'm looking at going to a 180 gallon at this point, dividing the kitchen from the sunroom, and I'm starting construction of the stand this week. I will have most of the goodies in the basement.
Couple of questions:
1. If the first thing you put into the tank is live rock and you have excellent calcium, carbonate, and no phosphor and no nitrate, what kind of a cycle can you expect? What should I be looking for as the 90 cycles, and is there a chance of keeping the corals that are on the live rock alive (a few shrooms and some other things).
2. Sunlight. The sunroom is really the only place I can do this. While I can put shades everywhere... how bad is it to have sunlight hitting the tank during the day for 2-3 hours if the temperature is held constant and the water quality is maintained?
I'm sure I'll have more. Thanks for being around, folks!
